Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to equipment for sanitizing bodies of water such as pools and spas. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to systems and methods for controlling chlorinators.
Related Art
In the pool and spa field, it is important that water be adequately sanitized to prevent the growth of microorganisms, algae, etc. Adequate sanitization is important not only to protect the health and safety of bathers, but to also ensure proper water clarity in a pool or spa. A number of sanitization techniques have been implemented to sanitize pool/spa water, such as chemical additives (e.g., chlorine, bromine, etc.), introduction of ozone into pool/spa water, ultraviolet sanitization, etc.
Electrolytic cells (or, so-called “salt chlorinators”) represent one way of sanitizing a pool or spa. In this arrangement, an amount of salt (sodium chloride) is periodically added to pool or spa water (e.g., a few times per year), an electric charge is imparted on the electrolytic cell, and pool or spa water is pumped through the cell. Through electrolysis, the salt in the water is converted to free chlorine, which is subsequently pumped into the pool or spa to sanitize water. One advantage to this approach is a reduction in the amount of chemicals that need to periodically be added to pool or spa water, in contrast to conventional chemical chlorination techniques which require frequent addition of dry or liquid chemicals to the pool/spa (e.g., by way of powder, tablets, etc.) in order to sanitize same.
Chlorinators having replaceable cell cartridges are known in the art. However, such systems do not include on-board electronic circuitry (including non-volatile memory) which stores operational and diagnostic information relating to the cell cartridge, so that proper operation and monitoring of the chlorinator can be carried out, e.g., by a controller in communication with the cell cartridge, or at a remote site (e.g., a manufacturer's facility) to which the cell cartridge can be shipped by the owner. Moreover, such systems do not include electrical and software-based security mechanisms to ensure usage of only compatible cartridges with the chlorinator.
Salt chlorinator systems that utilize replaceable chlorinator cartridges create a market for “knock-off” cell cartridges. This is primarily because a single chlorinator cartridge is designed for a single season of use, and therefore must be replaced at the beginning of each season. Knock-off cell cartridges not only have an economic impact, but can often create unsafe conditions. Specifically, only particular chlorinator cells should be used with specific chlorinator power supplies/controllers in order to ensure the safety of the system and the users. Standard connector systems allow knock-off companies to easily design cell cartridges to work with various chlorinators.
The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for controlling chlorinators, such as electrolytic chlorinators.